Vitor Belfort Recovering Faster Than Expected, To Return “Very Soon”

Middleweight contender Vitor Belfort, forced to withdraw last month from an April matchup with middleweight champion Anderson Silva due to a shoulder injury, says he is recovering faster than expected from surgery that was to sideline him until the end of the year and plans to return “very soon.”

“I am starting my rehab and the doctor said that my shoulder is going to be a much faster recovery then we thought,” Belfort wrote Tuesday on Twitter. “I will be back very soon.”

Belfort (19-8) has won five-straight fights, including Affliction victories over Terry Martin and Matt Lindland as well as a first-round TKO of Rich Franklin in September in the former light heavyweight champion’s return to the UFC.